Obama in history?

posted at 12:01 pm on May 15, 2012 by Ed Morrissey

If you haven’t gotten enough of Barack Obama lecturing on constitutional law, just wait until you get a chance to read the White House’s take on presidential history. Rory Cooper at the Heritage Foundation was the first to notice that the Obama administration edited the official presidential histories on the White House website to include a blurb about Obama on the page dedicated to Ronald Reagan. Commentary’s Seth Mandel followed up and found numerous other examples:

Many of President Obama’s fervent devotees are young enough not to have much memory of the political world before the arrival of The One. Coincidentally, Obama himself feels the same way—and the White House’s official website reflects that.

The Heritage Foundation’s Rory Cooper tweeted that Obama had casually dropped his own name into Ronald Reagan’s official biography onwww.whitehouse.gov, claiming credit for taking up the mantle of Reagan’s tax reform advocacy with his “Buffett Rule” gimmick. My first thought was, he must be joking. But he wasn’t—it turns out Obama has added bullet points bragging about his own accomplishments to the biographical sketches of every single U.S. president since Calvin Coolidge (except, for some reason, Gerald Ford).

Why start at Calvin Coolidge? I wonder whether they’ve just decided to go backwards and eventually plan to add Obama campaign slogans to every biography. Here is a comprehensive collection of the “Did you know?” sections added to boost Obama, with links to the specific pages attached to the names of the former Presidents:

On Feb. 22, 1924 Calvin Coolidge became the first president to make a public radio address to the American people. President Coolidge later helped create the Federal Radio Commission, which has now evolved to become the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). President Obama became the first president to hold virtual gatherings and town halls using Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.

President Herbert Hoover signed the bill founding the Department of Veterans Affairs July 21, 1930. President Obama is committed to making sure that the VA, the second-largest cabinet department, serves the needs of all veterans and provides a seamless transition from active duty to civilian life, and has directed his Administration to modernize the way health care is delivered and benefits are administered for our nation’s veterans. First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden launched Joining Forces to mobilize all sectors of society to give our service members and their families the opportunities and support they have earned.

In a 1946 letter to the National Urban League, President Truman wrote that the government has “an obligation to see that the civil rights of every citizen are fully and equally protected.” He ended racial segregation in civil service and the armed forces in 1948. Today the Obama Administration continues to strive toward upholding the civil rights of its citizens,repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, allowing people of all sexual orientations to serve openly in our armed forces.

President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare signed into law in 1965—providing millions of elderly healthcare stability. President Obama’s historic health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act, strengthens Medicare, offers eligible seniors a range of preventive services with no cost-sharing, and provides discounts on drugs when in the coverage gap known as the “donut hole.”

In a June 28, 1985 speech Reagan called for a fairer tax code, one where a multi-millionaire did not have a lower tax rate than his secretary. Today, President Obama is calling for the same with the Buffett Rule.

President Barack Obama awarded George H.W. Bush the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, for his commitment to service and ability to inspire volunteerism throughout the country, encouraging citizens to be “a thousand points of light.” The administration continues to promote service and civic engagement, honoring heroes of local communities as “Champions of Change” and fostering civic participation.

In 2002, President George W. Bush’s State of the Union was the first to be live broadcast on the Internet. In 2011 and 2012, President Obama’s State of the Union speeches were available in an enhanced live stream version that featured infographics, charts and data side-by-side in real time with the President’s speech.

It’s difficult to decide which of these are the lamest. The entry on JFK has to be in the running, though, with its proud declaration that Obama signed a proclamation! That must have been hard work, eh? The entry for Carter makes it sound like the Department of Energy is somehow separate from Obama’s administration, when it’s as integral as any Cabinet department; “works with” is nonsensical. The Nixon entry doesn’t even try to differentiate anything Obama does from any other President in the last 40 years.

Twitchy is tracking the responses on Twitter, where #ObamainHistory is a big trending topic. We’ll see if the effort to have historical presidential glory rub off on Obama continues at the White House with further additions to biographies. For myself, I can’t wait to see what Obama will have to say about Millard Fillmore.

In the 12th Century B.C., Moses the Lawgiver delivered the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. President Obama the Lawgiver has added significantly to them, overseeing the enactment of a record number of new regulations.

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Its a two party system at the Presidential level NapaConservative. How on earth would me voting for Obama be anymore “doing what I’m told” than Newt/Santorum people pulling the lever (or pushing the button) for Romney in November…

You all are too much. If I stick around all day responding to every post people say “don’t you have a job?” If I go off and do work people say “what a coward, way to run away.” Really dude?

So funny.

rogerb on May 15, 2012 at 3:58 PM

As usual your attempt to point to evidence of inconsistency falls short of hitting the mark (sadly, it doesn’t fall short of revealing your creepy post-stalking tendencies). I’m older and wiser than I was in 2000 and 2004. On a national level there’s no point in voting 3rd party.

I yearn for the “failed policies” of the GW Bush years: 5% unemployment, actual appreciation in home values, 15 million less on food stamps, blacks allowed school choice in DC schools, true job growth, faith in the American dream.

I can tell! However it says alot that in 9 or so months of posting thats all you could find. There’s quite a bit of difference in mild snark and claiming that Obama wants to destroy the entire nation. But, honestly, I do not want you to stop doing what you do. You clearly devote an *enormous* amount of time to searching, cutting, pasting and compiling other people’s statements on these threads. It must bring you joy and I’m happy it does.

However it says alot that in 9 or so months of posting thats all you could find…

You clearly devote an *enormous* amount of time …

libfreeordie on May 15, 2012 at 4:09 PM

It’s always weird seeing someone admit they have no real idea how to use their computer or search engines. Good for you for having that sort of self confidence, though.

AOL Obama 2012!!!

(Hint: Don’t assume things you have difficulty with are difficult. It could just be a personal issue. Math is a good example for many people. Or understanding the difference between military ranks. Or driving. Or computers, for instance.)

You clearly devote an *enormous* amount of time

Hint: I just entered a phrase and copied a previous post. You typed. Totals in this thread as of your 4:09 entry:

libfreeordie- 6 posts
rogerb- 5 posts

You clearly devote an *enormous* amount of time

Hilarious.

Well played, commander. Well played. I doubt any of us ever expected you to add to contradictions while complaining about posts on your contradictions.

Obama does not have the brains to write this. He reads his script but does not write it. He didn’t think up the Office Of The President Elect. The man can hardly communicate without the prompters. There is no way that he wrote any of this garbage. He is a fraud of the first degree and remember his backers are the ones that gave the CD’s to take to England that won’t work on their system. A high school audio visual team could do a better job of doing the grunt work behind his pathetic showings.